Issue 57

Old Sodbury Times March 2016

Vicky and Glenn Prested and their children Harry, Isabelle and Alfie are now at the centre of village life. They write ‘ We would like to thank everyone for the warm welcome we have received from the village, which has made it so much easier for us to settle in as a family. It has become evident very quickly that The

Dog Inn is at the heart of the Old Sodbury community and we hope we can continue that tradition in the coming months and years. A number of people have already asked us what our plans are for the pub and simply put, we don’t plan any major changes. The pub is such a great place already and we are very excited to be taking over. Naturally if you have any ideas as to things you would like to see please do pop in and see us, we’d love to know

what you think. Once again we are very grateful for the warm reception we

have received from those we have already met. If we

are yet to meet you please drop in and say Hi. We look

forward to getting to know you very soon!

———————

We also welcome the new Rector for Sodbury –please

see page 2.

Did you know that the Chipping Sodbury Library is

under threat of being closed despite being one of the cheapest to run - see page 4 for how you can help save it.

Dates for your Diary:

At the Village Hall:

12 Mar Barn Dance 7.30pm

16 Mar W.I. 7.30pm

2 Apr Village Spring Clean 10am

16 Apr Comedy Night 7.30pm

20 Apr W.I. 7.30pm

At The Dog P.H.

13 Mar Newcomers Gathering 3pm

At Old Sodbury School

6 Mar Sodbury Scramble 10am

At Old Sodbury Playing Field:

11 Jun Queens 90th celebration

Congratulations To Jen and Dave Wallace of Chapel Lane on the

birth of Harriet Anna on 27th January, a sister for Charlotte aged 2. Unfortunately last week Jen

fell down the stairs and broke two bones in her foot. She will certainly remember 2016 !

Welcome to The Dog Pub’s New Landlords

Community Speed Watch—Old Sodbury Update

Thank you to those who have volunteered to join the Community Speed Watch. To date we have 7 people. Ideally

we could do with about 12 to ensure good coverage, so welcome further volunteers.

Our application to introduce Speed Watch in the village has been accepted and the process of setting up the

scheme is in progress. Monitoring sites have been identified and are awaiting approval, the speed monitoring

equipment is on order and training of the first batch of volunteers is to take place in late February.

We anticipate starting Speed Watch in Old Sodbury, in early spring.

Community Speed Watch offers village residents the opportunity to get actively involved in road safety. We would

welcome anyone who can give some of their time to the project.

If you would like to join the Community Speed Watch volunteer team, or would wish to learn more about Speed

Watch, please email me at: bigron@outlook.com

Alan Connor

Old Sodbury Times -The New Team

We are pleased to say that we have had considerable support to replace the departure of Gerald and Laura. Michelle Dash assisted by Julia Bernau has taken on the collating and delivery to the deliverers. Darren Hailes will

cover the I.T. and Maggie MacLean, Sue Leah and Jane Tucker will be assisting with articles.

Please let us know if we get a delivery wrong or miss someone. We have a lot to learn to cover the work done by

Laura. Pauline and Richard Wilson

200 Club Winners

Jan No 64 Vera Smith £25

Feb No 39 Pam Fitt £25

PAGE 2 OLD SODBURY TIMES IS SUE 57

CANON DAVID BOWERS

I am very pleased to have been offered, subject to due process, and to have accepted, the post of Rector of the Sodbury Vale Benefice and Judith and I look forward to joining you as we look to the future

together as God leads and guides us.

We are both from Salford and have two grown up children. Judith works as a nurse for the Orders of St John at Athelstan House in Malmesbury and will continue her work there after our move. I studied at Manchester University and Wycliffe Hall, Oxford and worked as a civil servant for three years before ordination training. After ordination I worked in parishes in Manchester, Bolton and Rochdale before moving in 1998 to the Gloucester Diocese, where for ten years I was Associate Director of Ordinands as well as Vicar

of a group of parishes near Tewkesbury. Since 2008 I have been

Vicar of South Cerney with Cerney Wick, Siddington and Preston.

We enjoy walking, travel, music, cooking and entertaining and we have a special interest in Indian culture and food as we have visited the country several times. I enjoy watching sport, especially rugby and football, and have been a lifelong Manchester United supporter, as well as a more recent follower of rugby

at Gloucester.

We are looking forward to being part of your communities and to getting to know all of you as we settle

into our new home in Chipping Sodbury.

The Sodbury Scramble

5 kilometre run

around the village and surroundings

Sunday 6th March 10am

In aid of Old Sodbury Primary School

Further details from the school

Runners are asked to park politely and will

have marshals out and about.

Do come along and cheer the runners on,

or simply wave from your front door.

Don’t Forget 11th June 2016 Queens 90th Birthday

Celebration Picnic and Games.

Part of the Chipping Sodbury Festival running from

Friday 10th to Sunday 19th June

Plans for the Village celebration of the Queen’s 90th

birthday on Saturday 11 June are continuing apace.

As noted in the previous newsletter, the format will

be like a Street Party with everyone bringing their

own lunch and drinks, but with entertainment laid

on for the whole family. Currently we have con-

firmed a Circus skills group to put on a display and

also run a workshop for kids to have a go them-

selves. We have a Dog agility display, cake competi-

tions for children and adults, bouncy castle, music

and dance groups, face painting, various food

stands and the long awaited return of the intra Vil-

lage Tug of War competition. Further details of the

day and a programme of events will follow in the

next edition of this newsletter, but in the mean-

time, please book the date in your diaries.

As you can appreciate an event of this type takes a

lot of organising and relies upon volunteers to help

with all aspects of the preparation, running and

clearing up. A flyer should be included with your

copy of the newsletter asking for volunteers and

items of equipment. If you are interested in contrib-

uting some time to help to whatever degree you are

able, it would be greatly appreciated.

Village Spring Clean

Saturday 2nd April

Meet at the The Village Hall

10 a.m.

Litter Pickers, Gloves, Bags provided

Bring a Fluorescent Coat if you have one

Please come and help make

us all proud of our village

At our first meeting of 2016 we welcomed Jenny Bowen from

Sense Africa who gave us a fascinating insight into the Kingdom

of Swaziland. Jenny’s enthusiasm shone through her talk and

her love of the country and its people were clearly evident.

We have a broad range of speakers this year and these include for the first half of 2015:

February – Mark Goodway from The Matthew Tree Trust;

March - a speaker from Gardeners’ Question Time;

April – a talk on Patchwork and Quilting;

June – The Great Western Air Ambulance;

July – The Multiple Sclerosis Trust.

Our spring event is always highly anticipated

and this year we are pleased to confirm that there will

be a barn dance taking place on 12 March in the Vil-

lage Hall. This is always great fun for all the family

and if you would further information please contact

Elaine on 01454 327 803.

OLD SODBURY W.I.

PAGE 3 OLD SODBURY TIMES IS SUE 57

Lime & Coconut Cake by Rachel Derrick

Ingredients

2 large eggs

6oz/175g caster sugar

4oz/120ml sunflower oil

4oz/120ml milk

6oz/175g self raising flour

1 tsp baking powder

1oz/25g dedicated coconut

2 limes

4oz/115g icing sugar

Method

- Preheat oven to 180C/160C(fan)

- In a large bowl mix the eggs and sugar until light and

fluffy, add the oil and milk until combined.

- In a separate bowl combine the flour, baking powder and

coconut, then add to the wet ingredients and mix until just

combined.

- Fold in the zest of both limes, then add to a greased or

lined loaf tin

- Bake on the middle shelf of the oven for 45-55 mins.

- Allow to cool completely.

- For the icing, combine the icing sugar with the juice of

one of the limes. Pour over the top of the cooled cake and

allow to set.

Comedy Night

With the annual Village Hall Quiz now over,

a pleasant but fading memory, our attention

turns to the next big event on the calendar,

the Comedy Night. Last year was the

inaugural event, and was so well received

that we had people booking tickets for the

next show as they were leaving the last one.

The event will be on Saturday 16 April.

The format will be as last year, starting at

7pm, to be seated for 7.30pm, with a full 3

course meal followed by the show at around

9pm with 3 top national circuit comedians.

Remaining tickets are limited, but should

still be available by the time you receive this

newsletter. Tickets are £25 per head and

tables are laid out for 8 so if you can make

up a full group that would be ideal, but by

no means essential. Please call Rodney on

01454 310224.

Spring Barn Dance Saturday 12th March 2016 7.30pm

at Old Sodbury Village Hall

in aid of W.I. funds

Ploughman’s supper Bring your own drink & glasses

Tickets £12.50

Raffle proceeds to charity

Tickets from: A.Barber 01454 326437

or S.Leah 01454 315161

Village Newcomers Tea and Cake

Sunday 13th March 3pm onwards

In The Dog P.H.

Organised by the village this is an opportunity

for new residents to come and meet others.

We will be sending out invites but if you are

new and we have missed you do accept our

apologies and please come along.

Please send in your news to Pauline Wilson Tel: 310540 email r.pwilson@yahoo.co.uk Deadline for May edition is

15th April. For Village Hall bookings contact Carol Rowland Tel: 314923 or www.oldsodburyvillagehall.com THANK

YOU TO ALL who have helped with this edition. WE ALWAYS WELCOME MORE CONTRIBUTORS Disclaimer:

Any opinions expressed or implied within this publication are not necessarily those of the editors. Any articles sub-

mitted are on the basis that they can be edited and must not be anonymous.

Old Sodbury Football Club

On December 19th the first team won a hard fought game against Totterdown with the only goal coming from Matt Simons. In the Premier Cup on 2nd January the team eased through to the next round with a 6-1 win against Bristol Manor Farm. There were 6 different scorers for Old Sodbury. The following week we played the same team away and lost 3-1. It was a team of many first timers and they were outplayed. The game with Hallen was switched to Old Sodbury and the team went down 2-0. On a very wet Saturday, 6th February, the game was switched to C/Sodbury all weather pitch and we lost 4-0 to a much improved Winter-bourne side. After yet another week off the team went down 3-2 away to Cribbs Life; all the goals coming in the first half on a very wet and windy afternoon. Since Christmas the 1st team have lost 4 league games on the trot. The team is fourth in the league, but has played a lot more matches than other sides.

The reserves had an entertaining win 4-3 against Olveston with Darren Bell scoring a brace. The lads scored another 4 against Bristol Barcelona and ran out easy winners 4-0. On a very heavy pitch they lost 2-0 against Staple Hill Orient at home. After a week off with the home pitch waterlogged the game was switched to another ground on 13th February. Matt Ellery (2), Darren Bell, Greg Rogers and Paul Lucas were the scorers in a 5-0 win over Hartcliffe. The following week there was another 5-0 win over Hambrook with Paul Lucas scoring a hat trick. Manager, Steve Clapp, said the team took a while to settle in to Division 2 but we are showing good form at last. The team is fifth in the division.

Report by Laurence Walker

Fixtures –1st Team

5 Mar Olveston A

12 Mar Br. Manor Farm H

19 Mar Open

26 Mar Highridge H

2 Apr Totterdown A

6 Apr Longwell Green A

9,16 Apr Open

19 Apr Hallen Res. H

23 Apr Wick A

Fixtures—Reserves

5 Mar C/Sodbury ‘A’ H

12 Mar Olveston Res. A

19 Mar Yate Athletic H

26 Mar Highridge Res. A

2 Apr Made for Ever H

9 Apr Bendix A

16 Apr Highridge Res. H

20 Apr Hillfields H

23 Apr Made for Ever A

The game against Iron Acton

is still to be fixed.

Consultation on proposed Chipping Sodbury Library Closure.

Chipping Sodbury residents now have the opportunity to challenge South

Gloucestershire Council's plan to close their library. The library is scheduled to

close in 2017 as part of council cuts to the overall library budget,

but a twelve-week consultation process has now begun. The

mobile library, which visits Old Sodbury, is also set to close.

Posters and postcards will be distributed across the community

inviting people to have their say on the proposed cost-saving

measures for the Shire's libraries, and each library will offer a

consultation pack with background data. In addition there will shortly be a

consultation website www.southglos.gov.uk/library changes.

On Saturday 19 March there will be a drop-in consultation session at Chipping

Sodbury Library from 9.30-1.00.

Library members make up a quarter of all Chipping Sodbury residents, and the library's presence

and facilities were among the most highly valued amenities of the town, according to respondents to

the Parish Plan questionnaire.

Chipping Sodbury has an older population than the South Gloucestershire average, and over 40 per

cent of its library users are over 60. It was recently refurbished with improved facilities for children.

While Chipping Sodbury library is the smallest in South Gloucestershire, it is also the cheapest to

run, at about half the average open-hour cost. This is largely due to the £1 per year peppercorn rent

charged by the Town Lands Charity for its premises within the community-use Old Grammar

School.

Please be aware that a petition, either on line or hard copy with no matter how many names are on

it, is only treated as one return. It is most important to complete the consultation form and have

your opinion counted.